


should we fall to darkness

by theriveroflight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Moral Dilemmas, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Volume 7 (RWBY), Songfic, no longer canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25767847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: We try so hard, we're desperate to make amends/But through a simple soul, we lie complacent/Love brings us dreams/But grief makes the heart burst at the seams/As light fills my eyes/I'll picture me beside her/And pray that I'll inspire/I promise, I'll be here until the end
Relationships: Everyone & Everyone, Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Oscar Pine & Ruby Rose
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	should we fall to darkness

**Author's Note:**

> I was singing this song in the shower and a scene popped into my head. A conversation between Ruby and Oscar. I don't think I ended up writing it the same way the words came to my head, but...
> 
> Most of the other members of the cast are mentioned.
> 
> The poly JNR is more implied than anything but please do see it as such. The rosegarden is platonic and if you see it as pre-ship I guess I can't stop you but I won't be too happy about it 
> 
> This will probably stop being canon compliant once V8 is out, but for now I can write whatever I want. The contest Grimm - the Silverfish - makes a small cameo here.
> 
> Title and summary from "Until the End," from the V7 soundtrack.

Finding Oscar is a priority, but  _ not dying  _ comes first. Because if  _ any  _ of them die…who's going to stop Salem? Who's going to stop  _ Ironwood  _ from killing all these people? (The only thing standing between that is Penny. Penny, who went with them -- but can she be forced to obey? Can she be made to do it through lines of code?)

Ironwood's plan guarantees the deaths of too many. She can't guarantee that her plan will succeed - actually, neither of them really know if their plans will succeed. Ruby knows that if she succeeds she can save more people. Ironwood's plan damns most of the people in Atlas, and if he fails then all those deaths will have been pointless, because he won't have gotten anything from it. Not the safety that he wanted for those he could "guarantee" protection for.

And Cinder and Neo will still be in Atlas. How can they defeat the two of them?

How can they win, at this point?

That's why she's searching for Oscar. Because she can focus on that, instead of fixating on the gambit that she's chosen to take by having Penny on their side.

There's so much at risk.

She's searching Mantle. Because she...has a feeling that he isn't in Atlas anymore, not after Ironwood's…

The crater is both larger and smaller than she imagined. She can see Atlas looming above her.

(Ruby wonders if it ever came crashing down.)

(If it ever will.)

(And why, why they've chosen to leave the crater be.)

She finds Oscar huddled against a snowbank. He's currently asleep. Or maybe dead. His eyes are closed -- oh, that's breathing. He isn't dead.

Thank goodness. She doesn't want to have to look for the next incarnation.

"Oscar." She squats besides him and gently shakes. "Wake up."

He rolls over. "Ruby? Where are we?"

She stands up and offers him a hand. "Take a look."

He looks up. "Oh."

"What...happened?"

"I went to the Vault to talk to Ironwood. The non-metal arm was in a sling. I tried to persuade him to do the right thing. I told him about Salem. And then he accused me of being Ozpin and shot me off the edge of Atlas. That was when he actually came back. I don't know where we can go now, Ruby."

He takes her hand, and she pulls him up into a hug. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to blame yourself for anything, Ruby."

"I know." They separate. "But it was  _ our  _ decision. And the other three told me what happened with Neo."

"Yeah. I don't know what else we can do besides fight. Besides trying to save as many as we can."

"We put everyone at risk. But we don't guarantee anyone's deaths. And I don't know…" She doesn't know if her plan is right.

She doesn't know if there is a right decision to be made at all. So much of their plan hinges on  _ success. _

"I don't know what's going to happen either. But I promise that I'll be here as long as I can," he tells her.

"The reason I came to find you,"  _ instead of one of the others,  _ she doesn't say, "is because I couldn't focus on the fight. Of how many people stand to be lost. Of how we can't fail. Of how I don't know if I have any more to give."

"Ruby," he says, trailing off. "Behind you!"

She whips out her scythe without looking and turns to see a Manticore.

There are more converging on them. "Got your weapon?" she asks.

"Yes," he answers. They stand back to back, Ruby with her scythe fully extended and Oscar with his cane. It isn't a huge pack, but enough of a fight.

"We have to get out of here," she says, grabbing him and activating her Semblance. She isn't in the state of mind to fight; she doesn't think Oscar is either.

She runs to the rendezvous point that the team has set. Carrying Oscar with her Semblance is...strange. She's only done it a couple times - Weiss and Nora, and both of those were just quick lifts.

They blitz pass more Grimm.

And when they get to the rendezvous, three others are there.

Jaune is healing Nora. Ren looks anxiously at both of them.

"How much will this cost?" Ren asks.

"Where did you find him?!" Nora exclaims. Jaune hushes her and gently attempts to force her back into laying down.

"Near the crater," she answers. "And Ren -- I don't know. I'm hoping not much. Not  _ as  _ much. We stand to save more if we succeed."

"We stand to kill more if we fail."

But Ren still tightly embraces Oscar. "I'm glad you're safe, at least."

"You too," Oscar replies, strained.

Nora pushes Jaune away. "Hey!" he says.

"I feel way better, thanks!"

"What…happened?" Ruby asks.

"We encountered a huge swarm of Silverfish," Jaune answers. "All of them died or fled, the little creepers."

"Ren's the only one good for fighting them. Both of us have really unwieldy weapons with such a small Grimm."

"We fled a pack of Manticores," Oscar pipes up. "Ruby took us with her Semblance, as you saw."

"Are you okay, Oscar?"

Ruby stands back as Jaune lays his hand on Oscar's shoulder.

"I'm good. I slept for a while, my Aura probably recharged then. Ironwood kind of shot me off the edge of Atlas."

"WHAT?!" Nora exclaimed.

Ren just looks shocked. It makes sense - Ruby knows that he supported Ironwood for a while, so…

She stands beside Oscar, placing her hand on his shoulder. "That doesn't matter now. We have bigger things to worry about. Where's the rest?"

"Weiss, Blake, and Yang broke Qrow and Robyn out, so the five of them are probably on their way back. Penny is living up to her title as the protector," Ren says.

"I tried to tell her that we need her to prevent Ironwood from enacting his plan, but she refused."

Ruby takes a deep breath. "Alright. Oscar, you stay and wait for Qrow, Robyn, and the rest of my team to come back."

"What about us?" Jaune asks.

"Well," Ruby says with a smirk. "Team RNJR is about to make a comeback."

**Author's Note:**

> yell at me about fic on Tumblr @beunforgotten (writing blog) and yell at me about RWBY @alto-tenure (main)
> 
> Thank you for reading this!


End file.
